The digital crystal ball: A service recommendation system for designing social participation experiences among the elderly

Abstract

Social participation contributes to a higher quality of life for the elderly. However, an effective way to promote social participation has not been fully established. Conventional technologies for service recommendations have several limitations, such as a lack of or limited consideration of lifestyle, health status, physical capabilities, and desired experiences of the elderly for a recommended service. In this study, with the objective of promoting social participation among the elderly, we developed a service recommendation system called the “Digital Crystal Ball” through the establishment of two functions. The first function is to recommend social services based on the subjective experiences that the elderly want, and the second function is to suggest available transportations in order to utilize the recommended services in consideration of the physical capabilities of the elderly. Here we describe the details, experience, and usefulness of our service recommendation system in Minamisouma, a city in Fukushima Prefecture in northern Japan.